Xander Harris and the Antediluvian Tome
by Lochar
Summary: Xander, bored out of his mind during a slow period on the Hellmouth, picks up and reads one of Giles' books. Poor Xander
1. Chapter 1

Author: Lochar

Disclaimer: If you've seen it before, I don't own it. Even if you haven't seen it, it's probably not mine anyways. On the off chance that it IS mine though, cool.

Crossover: X-Men Evolution/BtVS

A/N: Alan, Iceman Xan if ya would.

"Speech"

/Thoughts/

_Reading_

* * *

Xander flopped down in the chair, looking around the library. Willow was sitting at another table, eyes closed and a pencil levitating in front of her. Giles was sitting across from her, watching and trying to coach her in the magic. Xander grinned at that. Looking past Willow, he saw Faith and Buffy sparring. He watched the poetry in motion for a few minutes. /Sweaty Slayers, gotta love it./

He just sat back for a few minutes, watching it all, glad that there wasn't some big nasty demon they were researching how to destroy for once. Xander knocked on the wooden desk quietly. /No love for you, Mr. Murphy./

After watching Willow working on her magic and then the Slayers working out for a while, Xander sighed.

/I am not taunting Murphy; I am not saying I'm bored./

Resolving to try to fix his own boredom without the Hellmouth getting itself involved, Xander sighed and grabbed a book off the top of one of the ubiquitous stacks of books in the library.

/Don't know the language, and I'm not going to go find a translation book. G-man would expect me to actually do this stuff all the time, instead of just at Apocalypse time./ Dropping the book on a different stack, he pulled another one.

There was no title on the cover though. Opening it, he looked over the first few words. /Hey, I can actually read this one… Kinda./

_I am Marcellus, High Priest of the Lord God of Magic, Marduk. These pages shall contain my observations about the children that wish to serve in this temple to learn of magic. Most of my students shall not need close observation, but there are a number of them who have their own unique gifts that seem to interfere with their ability to serve their God. _

"Weird dates. Wonder what they mean in English?" Xander wondered to himself. Shrugging, he continued reading.

_Four calendar days later _

_I must admit, I find myself intrigued by the abilities of one of the children. A boy of no more than ten years, yet his gift seems to mean that no spoken word within hundreds of steps away from him go unheard. Indeed, I find that if he focuses on me, he can hear whatever I say across the whole temple. An interesting ability, but it has stymied his connection to our God Marduk. I will continue to work with him though, and see if there is not a way for him to call for Marduk's favor even with what is turning into both a blessing and a curse to him. _

Xander continued to read the book throughout the afternoon, through the time when Faith and Buffy went out on patrol and came back. Giles made no mention to him about reading the book, most likely enjoying the respite that it gave him without Xander's jokes.

Once the Slayers came back and reported that they had dusted several vampires, they left. Willow tapped Xander the shoulder.

He looked up. "Hmm? Hey Wills, what's up?" He grinned at her.

"It's way past dark, and Buffy and Faith are ready to leave. Come on, unless you want to spend all night here." Willow grinned back at him, knowing his answer.

Xander closed the book quickly and stood. "Nuh uh, no way no how. Let's go." He looked over at Giles, who was putting away a few books. "Hey G-man, mind if I borrow this?"

Giles sighed as he turned around. "Borrow what, Xander? And please, do refrain from using that nickname." He looked at the book Xander was holding, then took it and opened it. After reading the first few lines, he shrugged. "I see no problem. It's not a spellbook, or anything dark. Enjoy yourself, just bring it back in one piece, would you?"

Xander nodded.

The next morning, Xander jerked awake to the sound of his alarm, the book lying open on his bed where he'd fallen asleep reading it. Apparently he'd fallen asleep reading it, but it was cool reading about whatever those kids were actually.

He closed the book, sliding a piece of paper into it to mark his place as he made his way out and towards the school. The book stayed in his backpack all day, and when he beat feet to the library, he immediately reopened it and continued to read.

An hour passed before Willow, who was working with Giles on her spells, looked over at him again. Then she looked to Giles. "Giles, there isn't anything bad about that book, is there?"

Giles shook his head. "No, it's just the diary of an antediluvian priest of Marduk. It's been checked for any spells or anything like that. Why do you think something may be wrong with it?"

Willow shrugged. "Xander doesn't normally read very much, except for comics. Guess I shouldn't complain though, huh?"

Giles nodded.

Xander had missed the whole by-play, as the part of the book he was reading now seemed to have been penned very quickly.

_Amazing. After so many failures of any of the children being able to call upon Marduk for even the slightest ability, I despaired. Risking Marduk's wrath myself, I called upon him directly to bless one of the students with his gifts. As his High Priest, I wouldn't think he would smite me down, and he did not. What happened though, amazed me to no end. Marduk's voice was heard through the whole city. I write it down here, now, for those that might read this later for his words are carved into my very soul. _

_'Marcellus, you have called upon me to bless one that knows not my ways. And yet, this child has a power all of his own, a child of the change. I shall grant him my blessing, and any others you shall ask for. But only you or your chosen successor shall be granted this boon. Treat this with great caution, for any harm that they may do with my blessing will reflect directly unto you." _

_The boy that I had asked Marduk to bless was surrounded by the energy of Marduk, and even the neonates could feel the power that was infused into him. Afterwards, the boy showed no more signs of being able to use magic than previously, yet Lord Marduk's blessing has shown itself in a different way. He has been able to manipulate the energy of magic directly. Knowing now what power has been bestowed on the child, I dare not ask of Marduk's blessing on any other children until we know how he shall react. _

Xander blinked. A kid that could directly use magic? That's was really, really big.

He quickly read through the next few entries, seeing they were related to how the kid was able to use his new powers. /Hmm, he can't actually cast spells. And it's limited to a certain amount of power. Not as good as it looked in the first place, but still./ He kept reading through.

"Holy…" Xander whispered, stunned by the words on the page.

_Marduk's blessing on the child has been more odd than any of us had thought. He is not able to cast any magic at all directly, yet the energy of magic he summons can be set to be destructive or healing, up to the most power Marduk granted him. Amazing. Truly amazing. _

_This is something that should not be lost, as properly trained the children will grow into powerful protectors for our city. Should I die before I am able to train my successor, I leave the blessing used to call upon Marduk for the children. _

_Marduk, Lord of the Gods and of Magic _

_I call upon you, to view the one in front of me. _

_They stand before me, willing to stand before you, _

_to receive your blessing and to know you as their own. _

_Marduk, I ask you to bless the one before me, in your name. _

Xander whispered the words aloud, grinning. /Heh, maybe Marduk would bless me. Then I'd have a power too, so I could help./

Willow looked up along with Giles, frowning as they both felt something slight, shift.

Xander focused, like how they had trained the kid in the diary, but nothing happened. /Oh well, not like I expected anything to happen anyways./ He turned back to the page, continuing on. And then groaned.

_Should the unthinkable happen, and our faith is destroyed, then I beg of the one reading this to remember Marduk's children of the change. Allow them to explore their power. In this, I name the person that knows the blessing and this book the charge of being my successor._

/Great/ Xander just laughed quietly to himself. /I voided myself, if the book's right. I made myself his successor./ Xander laughed again. /Can't we have the disclaimer BEFORE I end up excluding myself/

"Xan, watch out. I lost it!" Willow screamed.

Xander looked up, to see a small fireball racing towards him. He flinched, holding his arms, and subsequently the book, up to block it. The small fire impacted on the book, quickly catching it on fire. He dropped the book on the table, yelling. "Crap, crap, crap." He looked around, seeing Giles come up with a fire extinguisher. Giles put it out, but the book was ruined. "Oh come on, first book in ages I actually wanted to read, and you burned it Willow."

Willow blushed.

The library doors burst open, Buffy and Faith quickly dropping into a combat pose before a non-descript woman walked through them, looking around then at Giles. "Rupert, interesting place."

Giles stared. "Raven?"

Faith grinned. "Interesting name." Raven stared at her, but Faith just smiled impudently back.

Raven just slowly smiled as well. "You'll just have to take it on faith that it's my real name."

Faith did a double take, then nodded.

Raven turned to Giles again. "I want my books back, Rupert."

Giles nodded. "It will take a couple of days to separate them from the Watcher's collection, you know?"

She shrugged. "At least give me Marcellus's Diary back then. I have an urgent need for that."

"Uh, sorry about that. That was the book I was reading, and Willow just fried it. You missed it by, oh, a minute or so." Xander said, as he pointed to the charred remains of the book lying on the table.

Raven stared at the ruined book. "No." she whispered, then looked at Xander. "You read it then? Did you speak the blessing?"

Xander frowned. "Uh, yeah. Right before it got fried actually. How'd you know about the blessing?"

Her eyes narrowed. "Then you're coming with me, successor. I've a few people that would like to receive that power." With that, she shifted into a blue skinned, red haired demonic looking version of herself.

"Demon!" Buffy and Faith both shouted, as they ran to attack.

* * *

OK, so not what most of you were expecting from me. But hey! This actually woke up my muse. Hopefully I can bang out more of what I'm supposed to be working on now. Read and review anyways!  



	2. Chapter 2

Author: Lochar

Xander Harris and the Antediluvian Tome

Disclaimer: What you see is what I've got. Unfortunately, you're not seeing anything real, just a bunch of 0's and 1's. So I guess I don't own any of this. cry

A/N: OK, as I don't remember much about the timeline here, Cordy is a no show. As in, X/C never happened. K? Good.

A/N 2: Don't expect this as quickly every time, guys. Just a good night and a clear vision of where I was going lead me here. ;)

Chapter 2

* * *

Buffy and Faith rushed the blue skinned woman; weapons raised high when Giles voice rang out though the library.

"Not demon, mutant!"

The two Slayers either didn't hear him or pay him any heed as they charged. Suddenly, her form melted as she shifted shape again, this time into an actual raven as the two swung their swords at her.

Two swords clattered together as the raven took flight, landing high on a book shelf on the second floor of the library. Faith and Buffy quickly spotted her, and made to go after her.

"Stop you two." Giles thundered at them, making both Slayers start and turn around.

"But, demon! See demon, slay demon, right Giles?" Buffy looked confused.

He sighed. "Raven is not a demon, she is a mutant." He waved to the raven, and it flew down.

The raven shimmered, and again the woman stood before them. "Thank you Rupert." She turned to Xander. "Now, as I was saying. You are coming with me. There are people in my group that need that power you can bless them with."

Xander stared at her. "Uh, lady, Raven, don't take this the wrong way, but you actually believe that about the blessing? I couldn't have been the first person to have read that thing out loud. And besides, as much as I'd love to leave the troll behind, I do have school."

She glared at him. "Regardless of that, you became his successor. Don't know why, don't care. I FELT the shift when it happened. I've been waiting for that damnable book to be found. I figured I could kill the successor and then get the blessing myself, but no. You had to get the blasted thing destroyed!" She threw her hands up in the air.

Buffy frowned. "You're not killing Xander." She hefted her sword and took a step in front of Xander.

"You sure she ain't a demon, G?" Faith asked, also stepping up. "Threatening to kill someone, sounds pretty demonic to me."

Giles took off his glasses, looking down at them, before looking to Raven again. "Raven? I know it's been years since I last saw you, but why would you stoop so low as to killing?"

Raven took a step back. "That blessing could turn everything around for us." She glared at Xander, then at the two Slayers in front of him. "You're two bodyguards won't be around night and day, little boy. Eventually I'm going to catch you, and then you WILL bless whoever you're told to. I can be whatever you want, boy." Her body shimmered and melted again, turning into a very voluptuous woman with barely there clothes. "Anything your heart would desire. Is it so much to ask, if I'm willing to give you this?" Her hands trailed over her body.

"Smokin' hot." Faith whispered. "Wish I looked that good."

Xander, his mind not quite functioning from seeing Raven's new barely clothed body, automatically replied. "You look just as good, Faith."

Faith turned to him, mouth slightly agape in surprise. "Wha?"

Xander blushed.

Raven laughed. "I can be her as well, all you have to do is come with me." She shifted again, this time to a very close approximation of Faith's body. "And anything else you might want her to be." Her breasts enlarged, pushing out the material of the leather top.

Faith looked at her again. "Good lord, those are too big though. Jeeves, this one ain't making it out of here. Come on B."

Buffy, who had been quiet during the exchange, nodded. The both rushed her again, wary of her ability to turn into a raven.

"Slayers, always with the brute force." Raven jumped back from the swinging swords. "No subtlety." She reached into the pouch at her side, pulling something out and holding it. "No tactics." Her form shimmered again, and Buffy and Faith stepped back, waiting for her to turn into the raven. They both held their swords ready to throw. Raven quit shimmering and stayed in her form, throwing a dust from her hands at the Slayers.

It landed on them, and Raven called out. "Gaia firma!" Both Slayer stopped, barely able to hold up their swords to point at her. "Interesting. I didn't know a Slayer could lift eight hundred pounds or more. Oh well, Ta ta." She laughed as she walked out of the library, her voice floating back into the room. "Xander, what an interesting name. I will be coming for you."

Giles shook his head. "I don't know what that woman is up to." He walked up to the still struggling Slayers. "I apologize to the both of you. The Raven I used to know, while very strong willed, was not into the mayhem that she seems to be into now." He looked them over, thinking. "Heavy dust. Interesting. Hold on just a moment."

Giles walked back into his office, while Buffy staggered over to the table, collapsing into a chair. Which collapsed underneath her.

Faith laughed, and even Xander and Willow couldn't hold back their smiles.

Giles came out, looking at the mess and sighed. "You did hear Raven, correct? That dust made your body have an extra eight hundred pounds on it. Had you not been Slayers, you probably would have been crushed under the weight. Thus, the chair could not hold all your extra weight."

Buffy staggered to her feet. "I…know that… now, Giles." She panted out.

"Hold still, please." Giles held out what looked to be like a normal duster. "And please, do drop the swords."

They both nodded and dropped their swords.

Giles brushed the off with the duster in his hands. As he did, the dust fell off of them and they quickly were able to stand upright easily again. "A good bit did get into your hair. I do suggest the two of you go take showers to get it out. Heavy dust is a very easily removed spell, but it is still hard to get sand out of your hair without thoroughly washing it. And that is what is holding the spell."

The two girls nodded, then Faith looked at Xander, sizing him up. "So X, ya wanna join me? Help me get clean? I owe ya that much for saying such nice things when that gal changed into the bombshell."

Xander shook his head and managed to stutter out. "N.n.no, thanks though."

Faith shrugged. "Your loss. I'll let ya keep the free ride ticket though." She turned to Buffy. "Come on B, show me where the showers in this place are at. I've got way to much weight still on my head."

As the two left, Willow laughed at Xander, while Giles just stood there shaking his head.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

Elsewhere in town

"Had to be the Hellmouth, didn't it? Couldn't have been found anywhere else, could it Chuck? And then sending a message at my head, telling me someone had already found the damned thing. Now I get to go from book collector to baby sitter. Hope it ain't no namby pamby wuss." The short, compactly muscled man moved down the streets. "Couldn't give me anywhere more detailed than a whole damned town either. How am I supposed to find one person in a whole town, who doesn't even stand out that they've read the damned thing?"

He sighed, thinking back. "Hey, didn't Chuck hunt down someone related to me here?" He grinned. "Wonder how they'll feel if I crash at their place tonight." Looking at the street signs, he quickly walked to the house Chuck had pointed him towards. "What, they were like great grandkids or something, weren't they? Wonder how'll they'll take a grand dad showing up." He chuckled darkly.

Reaching the house, he knocked, and a man answered the door. "Whatever it is, we don't want any." He slurred, slamming the door.

The man's eyes narrowed. "Drunk?" He looked up at the sky. "And it's only a little past noon. Think I'll scare him sober."

Banging on the door again, this time a woman answered. He stared at her. "Sharla?" He whispered.

She frowned. "Do excuse my husband, sir. And my name isn't Sharla."

He thought for a moment. "Spitting image of your grandmother, aren't ya girl?"

She stepped back quickly. "You can't come in!" She backed away into the house, leaving the door open.

He laughed. "I'm no vamp, girl. It's daylight outside. And I ain't no demon either." He stepped inside. "Sharla was my daughter. Guess that'd make you my great granddaughter."

Jessica stared. "But how?"

"I've been around a long time. My curse, I guess you could say. I'm gonna be in town for a while, mind if I crash here a couple of nights until I get my bearings?"

Jessica sighed. "My house is your house, if you are my great grandfather."

He pulled out his wallet, unfolding a very faded picture. "That ought ta prove it to you." He handed it over.

Unfolding it, she saw it was a picture of her grandmother as a child, along with her parents. It was a duplicate of the picture she had upstairs. Her grandmother's father looked exactly like the man in front of her. "I don't know how you could still be living. Everyone else died, grandma couldn't heal fast enough to outrun time."

He choked and then sighed himself. "And here I was, hoping that she might. I guess that it didn't pass down enough. Come on, let's talk family."

They walked further into the house, where the man was slumped against the couch. He turned. "I said we didn't want any, now get outta here!" He threw an empty beer can at him. "Jess, get him outta here and get me another beer, woman."

Catching it, he growled. "Jess is family. You're not. She invited me to stay here, so I won't take it out of your hide." He crushed the can with a hand and narrowed his eyes at him. "And you know what? She's more than just the beer retriever. Learn it, or I'll teach you." His voice was cold. He then turned to Jessica. "How in the world did you stay with him?"

The two walked off towards the kitchen, Jessica starting to explain. "Fooling around, he got me pregnant. At one point, he was actually a nice guy." She said as they walked out of the room.

Her husband looked over the room, then back towards the kitchen again. "Bah, forget the beer for now then."


	3. Chapter 3

Xander Harris and the Antediluvian Tome

Author: Lochar

Disclaimer: If I owned it, this wouldn't be considered fanfiction.

Chapter 3

* * *

"Excuse me?" Xander asked, flabbergasted.

"You heard me. You're not leaving the sight of one of us until after we've killed that demon." Buffy grated out. "I am not letting her kill one of my friends."

Faith leered at Xander again. "Don't worry X, I won't let B watch ya while ya take a shower. That's my job. I still owe ya for that comment."

Xander and Buffy both blushed, for different reasons.

"I don't think we need to watch that closely, Faith." Buffy managed to get out.

"Speak for yourself. I wanna know what X is hiding."

"Do you really plan on killing Raven?" Giles voice broke into the argument. "She isn't a demon, but a mutant."

Faith turned around, Buffy scant seconds behind her. "Threatens to kill and maim until she found out her book was destroyed, then wanted to kidnap X for whatever power she thinks he can give. Sounds demonic to me, Jeeves."

"Faith is right." Buffy nodded. "She's definitely demonic."

Sighing, Giles shook his head. He stood up from the table, looking at the girls. "Raven is a mutant, not a demon. And while yes she does seem quite unstable, she is still a human. From her looks and actions you may think she is, but trust me on this that if you kill her, the Slayer spirit will realize you've killed a human. And something like that is not a good thing. You two are supposed to be protectors of humankind, not a killer. It will quickly drive you into a depression."

Buffy nearly pouted. "Fine Giles. No killing the weird woman. If she attacks though, no promises that she's walking away without broken arms and legs. Deal?"

Giles nodded. "I do not think you will like the results of harming a human, but as you wish." He had a slightly defeated air about him as he continued. "Have a good night, and please, don't kill her."

"That's that then. Come on, X. Let's get your butt home." Faith grabbed Xander's arm, pulling him out of the library.

"Don't I have any say in this?" Xander asked plaintively.

"Not really. Come on Red, we'll make sure you get home as well."

Willow nodded quietly, walking out with the group.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0

"Alright, see? I'm home, and no weird woman attacking me. Happy now? I can go into my house without an armed escort, right?" Xander laughed.

"It's not funny, Xander. We don't want you to get hurt!" Willow said.

Xander shrugged. "Well, I'm home at least. I'm not going to taunt Murphy too much, but since I'm home everything should be alright, right?"

Buffy nodded. "Yeah. OK, Willow. You're up next. Let's get you home."

"Sounds great to me. Then we can go out and kill a few vamps at least." Faith added.

"Enjoy then. Night gals." Xander grinned at them, then turned to go inside.

As he walked in the house, he heard the three girls walking off talking quietly. Heading into the den, he saw his dad watching the TV.

"Get me a beer, brat." His dad's voice echoed over the back of the couch.

Shrugging, Xander walked into the kitchen. _Sounded less slurred than usual. Wonder why…_ Xander's internal musings were cut off as he found his mother and another man about her age sitting in the kitchen, talking over coffee.

"Who're you?" The man asked.

Xander's mother turned to him, and smiled. "That's my son, grandfather."

Xander backed up. "Grandfather? What do ya mean by that, mom?"

"He's my grandmother's father, so actually he'd have a great in front of it, but he is my grandfather. Yours too, actually."

_And looking as young as you?_ Xander's hand went behind his back, grabbing the stake he'd not dropped off in his room yet. "Granddad? That's… interesting."

The man smiled and Xander swallowed. There was something odd about that smile, something familiar. It didn't look quite like a vamp's smile; it instead struck a chord inside him.

_It's always me, isn't it?_ Xander thought to himself as he forced a smile and slowly walked back towards his mother and 'Granddad.' _Mom invited him in, but he hasn't attacked her yet. Did that Raven person send him after me?_

Walking up to his granddad, he nodded before sweeping his arm around, attempting to bury the stake in the heart before the man could react.

The stake scrapped across the man's chest, creating less than a flesh wound that healed almost immediately. Looks of shock and surprise went across the faces of all three people.

"Damn it!" Xander shouted, jumping back. _Master vamp! Crap, and Buffy and Faith are probably already way to far to get back here._

"Alexander!" His mother screamed.

The man's reaction was the strangest of them all though. The surprise attack had worked enough to catch him off guard, and the attack had pushed the chair back and he fell back onto the floor. Quickly spinning around and standing up, Xander was shocked to see three really long metal spikes slide out of each hand. "What was that for?" He glared at him.

Xander grabbed for the small cross he wore, quickly flipping the chain over his head and pushing it towards the man. "Back up, get the hell out of here. Consider yourself uninvited."

At first, it looked like it might work, as the man stared at the cross dumbfounded. Then a shiver went down Xander's spine as the man laughed.

Xander took a step back as the man stood up from his fighting position, but sighed slightly as the spikes retracted back into his hands.

"I'm not a demon, I'm not a vampire. Although, I gotta give ya credit for the quick thinking." He smiled at him. "And I really am," he thought for a moment, "hell, I guess it would be your great-great grandfather."

Jessica frowned. "Grandfather, grandma never said anything about you being able to do that?"

The man nodded. "Yeah, that's recent, and not something I volunteered for."

"I don't care about that, but if you're not a vampire or demon, how in the world could you be that old? Especially since you look mom's age."

"Really, I'm not exactly sure. My kid didn't heal fast enough to outrun time. Apparently my mutant healing is strong enough."

_Mutant, great. He's here for the book too. There's no way he'd show up the same time the blue chick did and not be here for it as well. Hope he doesn't report in to her too soon. He's not drunk, so that makes him loads better than anyone on dad's side of the family._

Grinning, and only having to slightly force it, Xander sat down to talk with the oldest member of his family he knew.

Nobody noticed the bird outside the window that flew off, screaming as it did.


	4. Chapter 4

Xander Harris and the Antediluvian Tome Ch. 4

Author: Lochar

* * *

Xander had learned a great deal about his grandfather, at least what the times were like back when he was married to his great great grandmother. Beyond saying he was checking up on his family, he didn't mention his reason for being in Sunnydale.

Grandpa Logan, as he finally broke down and allowed Xander to call him, learned just as much about Xander. He'd told him stories about his school, or at least as much as he could that was normal. He might have been a mutant, but Xander didn't want to mention too much about the Hellmouth, even if it appeared he did know about demons and such.

Xander got up the next morning and made his way downstairs, to find Logan camped out on the couch. The place looked to be a lot cleaner than normal after one of his dad's nights of drinking. _Heh, Grandpa must have kicked him out early to go to sleep._

"Hiya gramps." Xander waved to him as he walked into the kitchen to see about finding some breakfast.

Chuckling, Logan got up off the couch as well, nodding to Xander. "Morning yourself, brat."

Xander walked out of the kitchen, holding a poptart. "Brat I might be, but at least I finally know which family member started it."

Logan laughed again.

His mother picked this time to appear from upstairs. "Shouldn't you be leaving for school soon, Alexander?"

Looking at the time on the VCR, he shook his head. "Nah, I've got five more minutes."

"Alright, but don't be late." She told him. She walked into the kitchen, where they could hear her making coffee.

Xander looked at Logan. "Whatcha gonna do today, Grandpa?"

Logan thought for a moment. "Not sure, probably amble around town, see the sights. Know of anything good in town?"

"Besides the Bronze? You might be able to catch a movie, but that's about it." Xander replied without hesitation.

"The Bronze?"

"It's a club. I don't really think you'd like it, and it doesn't open up until the evening anyways." Xander explained. "It's down off Eighth if you really want to go see it."

There was a knock on the door.

Xander looked at his grandfather quizzically as his mother's voice rose from the kitchen. "Answer that, would you, Alexander?"

Shrugging, Xander stood up to answer the door. Opening the door, he found Faith standing there.

"Ready to go, X?"

Xander looked at her oddly. "Why are you here, Faith?"

"B said to grab you last night. She's gonna stop by Red's and pick her up." Faith looked into the house. "Who're you? You don't look like X's old man."

Logan laughed. "No, I'm related to his mother."

Xander caught her eye. "He's actually a mutant."

Faith's face closed up. Her fists clenched as she stared at Logan. "What?"

"So far he doesn't seem as bad as some of the stuff we've heard about, Faith." Xander said. "Just wanted to get that out of the way, alright?" He said, looking back to Logan.

"Yeah, yeah. Whatever. Just tell me next time you're going to spring my secret on someone, okay?" Logan grumbled.

Faith relaxed slightly, then looked at Xander. "You sure?"

Xander nodded, then grabbed his backpack from next to the door. "Yeah. Come on, we'll talk on the way to class."

As Xander walked out of the house and closed the door, Logan watched the two leave. "Heh, wonder how they hooked up. He doesn't seem to be her type."

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

"X, I can't believe you. Why didn't you call B or Jeeves when you found out he was a mutant. He's probably working with that shapeshifting one." Faith ranted at him as soon as they were out of eyesight of the house.

"Because I thought he was a vamp at first." Xander calmly said.

Faith stopped for a moment, staring at him. "And that's any better?"

"Well, after a stake wouldn't even do more than scratch his chest, what else was I supposed to do? If he was going to kill me, it really wouldn't have been too hard with those metal claws in his hands."

"Metal claws. You sure he's a mutant and not a demon then?" Faith pressed. "I'll go back there and slay him."

"Nah, my mom knew him. He's actually my great-great-grandfather." Xander laughed.

"Dude looks good for being that old."

"Yeah, that's his mutant thing supposedly. He heals so fast that he doesn't age." Xander looked at the sky. "Still, I wonder if G-man knows him. He knew the first one."

They walked the rest of the way to the school in silence. Once they got to the school, Faith veered off towards the library.

"I'm gonna go tell Jeeves about that mutant at your house. Enjoy your school, X."

Xander called out to her. "Hey Faith, what classes do you have? I've never seen you in any."

Faith paused and turned around. "Classes? Nah, not for this girl. Soon as I tell Jeeves, I'm outta here. I'm gonna go see if I can't go find that Raven chick."

Xander shrugged. "I don't know whether or not to call you lucky. No school, but you have to go try to find someone who can be anyone. Enjoy."

They split up, Xander going to class.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

It was the middle of his English class when Xander found himself in trouble. Having trouble staying awake after the long talk with his grandfather the night before, Xander finally gave up and put his head on his desk and went to sleep.

He was quickly woken by a tapping on his shoulder. Looking up, he groaned to see the teacher staring at him.

"Mr. Harris. That's over a dozen times you've fallen asleep in my class. I think I'll take you to explain to the principal why you think English is a class you can just sleep through. Your grades definitely don't say you can."

Grabbing him by the arm, she pulled him out of the chair and marched him to the front of the class and to the door. Turning around, she looked at the rest of the students. "Keep studying. If I return and find a party happening, you all will serve detention until you're thirty."

With that, she marched him out of the classroom.

After a few minutes, they reached the front of the school, where the administrative staff were. Slowing down to turn into the office, Xander was startled to hear the voice behind him growl.

"Keep moving brat. You've been checked out."

Xander turned, gasping to see his mother's face behind him. "Shit, Raven."

She grinned evilly at him. "Exactly. And without any friends to protect you, you're coming with me."

Xander groaned, but calmly walked out of the school, keeping an eye out for a chance to run.

"Ya know, I could have sworn X's momma was taking her granddad out for a tour of the town. And what do I find, but her checking X outta school? Don't think so." A voice said.

Xander grinned. "Faith!"

The raven haired Slayer was leaning up against a wall, watching them.

"You know X, you're going to owe me once I kick her ass. Jeeves said she'd probably try something like this, so I knew watching the school might give me a chance for some exercise." Faith calmly walked towards them, cracking her knuckles.

Xander felt his arm get jerked, as he was thrown behind the shapeshifting mutant.

"Oh, I doubt you'll enjoy this exercise. I'm not leaving without him this time." Raven said darkly. She shifted again, this time into a much larger, only semi-humanoid form. "And you know what? I think I will enjoy this myself."

* * *

Dun dun dun! Cliffhanger! Read and review! 


	5. Chapter 5

Xander Harris and the Antediluvian Tome

Author: Lochar

Disclaimer: Don't own it, don't need the headaches that would come with owning it.

Chapter 5

* * *

Xander scrambled back as Faith and Raven went at each other in the front of the school.

_Hopefully the Sunnydale effect kicks in, or I'm gonna get expelled._

Whatever Raven had morphed into seemed to have both strength and speed, almost matching Faith's Slayer abilities. Punches and kicks were exchanged, blocked, dodged, and reversed almost faster than he could keep up with.

After a moment, they stopped and stood across from each other, Raven calmly watching while Faith seemed a little ticked off.

"X, what the hell are you still doing here? Get lost and let me take care of the crazy." Faith took a quick look at him.

Xander stood up. "Where do you want me to go? You guys are blocking the way out that way, and doors are locked while school's in."

"Dammit, I knew I hated school for a reason."

"Children, while this is a most interesting conversation, the successor isn't going anywhere. At least, not without me. Slayer, don't think you're going to win this one." Raven gave Xander then Faith a bloodthirsty grin. "I'm not demon or vampire, and I don't think you'll kill human, even a mutant human, will you?"

Faith looked a little nervous.

"Just as I thought." She rushed Faith hands out, morphing them into something. "But I have no qualms with it!"

Faith reached out for her changed hands, dodging at the last moment as silver claws slide out reaching for her throat.

"Shit! What's with this chick? Isn't there a damned limited to what you can change to?" Faith yelled, getting around behind her.

Raven spun around, kicking out at Faith and catching her in the back.

As Faith catapulted a few feet forward, she saw the shapechanger fly further over her head, without benefit of wings.

Then a low voice growled behind her. "She can only change to what she's seen."

Faith kicked off the ground, quickly turning around to see Xander's supposed grandfather, standing there with the same claws going out of his hands.

"Suppose I should have just killed her, but I'd like to know why she's after my family. And why the hell she's in this town in the first place." Logan glared across the courtyard at Raven.

Raven stood up slowly. "Logan. I am here on my own business, that you have no business in. Let me leave with the boy and I won't be forced to kill my way out."

"Raven, I just said he's family. If you think I'd let you leave with family, I've got six claws here that are going to argue differently."

Raven laughed ironically. "Great, just great." She looked up at the sky. "Why can't this have been even a little easier? The book unread, or even a nice docile idiot to drag along. No, the successor had to be related to one of Xavier's pets."

Logan shot Xander a look, before glancing back towards the now shifted back female. "Book, successor? This isn't going to go well." He shook his head. "Get out of her and tell ol' Buckethead he's not getting anything he's after here."

Raven scowled at Logan. "This isn't over." She shifted again into a bird and flew off.

Logan nodded at Faith, and they both walked over to Xander. "You ok?" Logan asked.

Xander nodded. "Just peachy, considering I was almost drug off by a homicidal maniac bent on forcing me to use whatever I'm supposedly the successor to for some idiot's probable plan for taking over the world."

Logan blinked, then laughed outloud. "Happen often to you?"

This time Faith snorted and answered. "Not on the Hellmouth."

"Well, I'm not usually the center of it. That's Buffy or Faith's job most of the time." Xander agreed.

Logan looked over Xander's shoulder. "Who's that?"

Xander turned around and then groaned. "Ah, the resident troll, Principal Snyder."

"HARRIS! Out here playing spectator for a pair of tramps? I'm going to expel you for this." Snyder threatened.

Logan held up a fist to the little man, and he stopped. "I'm family, and he's checked out of school. You have a problem with that?"

Snyder glared. "Are you on the approved list for signing the brat out?"

Slowly, Logan's middle claw rose up from between his knuckles. A drop of blood balanced on the tip before sliding down. "Go away."

Snyder turned white and nodded quickly. "Right, you're on the list. In fact, I think you've already signed him out." He backpedaled back and re-entered the building, quickly disappearing from sight.

"Come on, let's get back to the house." Logan said to Xander. "I think I need to talk to you about whatever this successor is. I've got a feeling I know what it is."

Faith stepped between them. "You're probably right. And I'm not letting X go with any mutants, family or not. We're going to the library where we can get everyone together. You don't like it, you can leave."

Logan shrugged. "Whatever. Where's this library then?"

Xander pointed, and the three started walking. Xander then asked a question. "How'd you know the crazy lady was here anyways?"

Logan chuckled. "Believe it or not, I smelled her. She wasn't very careful about covering her scent. Probably because she didn't think she'd need to."

Xander stopped in his tracks, Faith and Logan walking a little further before stopping and facing a now ashen-faced Xander.

"What's up?" Faith asked.

"Stupid Hellmouth bad luck." Xander bit out. "That's why it seemed familiar."

"What's gotten into you X?" Faith again asked.

"Oh, it's not in me. Not anymore." Xander cocked his head to the side, regarding his many greats grandfather. "So, what possessed you, gramps?"


End file.
